Digital Commons Network^™

Contrasting Effects Of Selective Lesions Of Nucleus Accumbens Core Or Shell On Inhibitory Control And Amphetamine-Induced Impulsive Behaviour, Emily Murphy, Emma S.J. Robinson, David E.H Theobald, Adam C. Mar, Trevor W. Robbins, Jeffrey W. Dalley

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Neuroethics Of Neuromarketing, Emily Murphy, Judy Iles, Peter B. Reiner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Neuroimaging And Disorders Of Consciousness: Envisioning An Ethical Research Agenda, Emily Murphy, Joseph J. Fins, Judy Iles, James L. Bernat, Joy Hirsch, Steven Laureys

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Signature Identification In The Light Of Science And Experience, Roger C. Park

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Darwinist View Of The Living Constitution, Scott Dodson

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Conceptual Hurdles To The Application Of Atkins V. Virginia, Lois A. Weithorn

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Anecdotal Forensics, Phrenology, And Other Abject Lessons From The History Of Science, David L. Faigman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Noncontingent Reinforcement As Treatment Fortub-Standing In A Toddler, R. D. Ward, Thomas S. Higbee

Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling Faculty Publications

The present case study investigated whether the tub-standing of a typicallydeveloping toddler could be reduced by a noncontingent reinforcement procedure. The results of a brief functional analysis suggested that tub-standing was maintained by automatic reinforcement. Noncontingent reinforcement, consisting of presentation of bath toys on a fixed-time schedule, was effective in reducing the number of tub-stands per session. These results suggest that noncontingent reinforcement can be successfully applied to problem behavior in typically-developing children in naturalistic settings.

The Occurrence Of Moral Distress In Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Linda Radzvin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Registered nurses are frequently confronted with ethical dilemmas in their nursing practice. As a consequence of their decisions regarding ethical challenges, nurses report experiencing moral distress. This experience is often manifested by such feelings as anger, guilt, sadness, fear, and frustration and has been identified as a contributing factor to burnout and turnover in nursing. A review of the literature has shown that the incidence of moral distress has been examined in various nursing settings. However, to date only one qualitative study has been conducted that examined the occurrence of moral distress in nurse anesthetists related to the delivery of …

Why Parents Choose Catholic School: A Social Theory Understanding, John M. Schultz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Catholic schools in the United States are at a critical juncture. The Catholic bishops speak as if parents choose a Catholic school mainly because of the spiritual mission of the school. But what are the real reasons that parents choose Catholic school for their children? Current research provides no social or religious understanding of the phenomenon of school choice.

Research Questions and hypotheses

As the title indicates, the purpose of this study is to investigate the real reasons that parents choose Catholic school for their children as understood by using a social theory model and as influenced by many forces …

A Study Of Health Care Practices And Health Beliefs Of Puerto Rican Women In Southeastern Pennsylvania, Lorraine Martin-Plank

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this focused ethnography was to discover the culturally based health care beliefs and practices of the Puerto Rican population in urban Southeastern Pennsylvania as related by Puerto Rican women. The study also sought to discern the influence of acculturation on the health beliefs and practices of this population. The study used a qualitative methodology to elicit the emic viewpoint of the informants through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, fieldnotes and memos. A quantitative measurement scale was used to measure psychological acculturation; most informants were bicultural although all self-identified Puerto Rico as home. A purposive sampling strategy with snowballing …

Being A Leader In Higher Education With A Concealable Differences: Empathic Executives With A Call To Action, Dennis H. Mathes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study tells the story of thirteen executive leaders in higher education from across the nation who identified themselves as having a concealable difference. These differences included being gay or lesbian, experiencing an auditory or visual disability, or being from a poor socio-economic background.

Grounded in a constructivist epistemology, a phenomenological systematic approach was used to understand and illuminate the nuances of the lived experiences of these individuals. Together the terms ontology, epistemology, and methodology describe the foundation for this study. Ontology is the study of Being; epistemology is how we know what we know; and methodology is the approach …

The Assessment Of Back Muscle Capacity Using Intermittent Static Contractions. Part I: Validity And Reliability Of Electromyographic Indices Of Fatigue, Christian Larivière, Denis Gagnon, Denis Gravel, A. Bertrand Arsenault

Études primaires

No abstract provided.

Riding A Broomstick Out Of Plato’S Cave: Elements Of Plato Found In J.K. Rowling’S Harry Potter Series, Camille Winegar Parker

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has become a cultural phenomenon. An analysis of the Harry Potter series reveals that underneath the phenomenon status there is great depth. This paper looks at aspects of the novels that mirror elements found in Plato’s The Republic, specifically his allegory of the cave in Book Seven. Plato’s allegory of the cave can be broken down into “four stages,” and in the Harry Potter novels there are characters who fall in each of these four stages. Through the characters in the four stages we see that the “highest form of knowledge” (Plato 246) to …

Meeting Interpersonal Needs : A Content Analysis Of Viewbooks From Public And Private Higher Education Institutions, Kipp A. Wilfong

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Integrating Community, Education, And Global Sustainability: The Vash Recycling Model., Tracy A. Vash

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Action research engages researchers and communities in iterative, reflective inquiry to address issues and solve problems with the support of data analysis. The study was structured by and analyzed using the prototype Vash Recycling Model (VRM). For three years, January 2005 through December 2007, this study engaged textiles, apparel, and merchandising students at West Virginia University in collaboration with The Mission, a homeless shelter in Clarksburg, in a joint recycling project. The VRM, found to be an effective guide in textiles and apparel recycling, assisted environmental sustainability, and in 2007 eliminated 679,271 pounds of waste from the landfill while generating …

Classroom Environment And Its Effect On Student Achievement In A 3rd Grade Mathematics Classroom: An Autoethnographic Study., Darlene R. Voorhees

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Student achievement in mathematics is a concern of policy-makers as well as those who teach the subject. Due to concern regarding lagging mathematical achievement in the United States that began with a series of events that include the launch of Sputnik in the 1950s, the federal report A Nation At Risk, and the Third International Mathematics and Science Study have sparked a fervent desire for school children to succeed and compete mathematically with our global neighbors. Although policy-makers are striving to improve educational practices of mathematics by formulating curriculum plans to foster mathematical achievement and a joy of mathematics, one …

Discriminative-Stimulus And Time-Course Effects Of Kava-Kava (Piper Methysticum) In Rats, Natalie R. Bruner

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Kava-kava is a widely available and used herbal medicine that is not regulated in many countries, including the United States. There are many questions concerning kava-kava's stimulus properties, potential for therapeutic use, and potential for abuse. Although there is evidence that kava may possess some anxiolytic properties, the supplement's mechanism of action and the extent to which it may serve as an alternative to pharmaceutical anxiolytics are unknown. To date, there is no research examining whether kava shares discriminative-stimulus properties with a standard pharmaceutical anxiolytic such as chlordiazepoxide (CDP). The current study compared different doses of kava in two groups …

Application Of Machine Vision In Uavs For Autonomous Target Tracking, Joshua Patrick Effland

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research presents experimental results for the application of Machine Vision (MV) techniques to address the problem of target detection and tracking. The main objective is the design of a prototype "UAV" surveillance environment to emulate real-life conditions. The model environment for this experiment consists of a target simulated by a small electric train system, located at "ground" level, and a MV camera mounted on a motion-based apparatus located directly above the model setup. This system is meant to be a non-flying mockup of an aerial robot retrofitted with a MV sensor. Therefore, the final design is a two degree-of-freedom …

Understanding The Motivations Of Ghanaian Bureaucrats, Christine Naa Norley Lokko

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examines the factors that affect the work performance of Ghanaian bureaucrats. Three decades ago Robert Price (1975) examined the impact that kinship ties had on the motivation of Ghanaian bureaucrats. He found that Ghanaian bureaucrats behaved in particularistic fashions as opposed to acting in a universalistic manner, suggesting kinship was a major determinant of bureaucratic routine. This study followed the work of Price by replicating his mix of interviews and surveys, with the addition of questions that incorporate recent work on bureaucracy that suggest motivation involves a mix of solidary, functional, and pecuniary preferences (Brehm and Gates, 1997; …

Implications Of Motivational Interviewing And Oral Hygiene Instruction For The Reduction Of Oral Health Disparities Among Pregnant Women, Renata K. Martins

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Pregnancy is a "teachable moment" during which women may be particularly amenable to making health behavior changes that can have significant impact, not only on themselves, but also on their offspring. Dental complications during pregnancy, such as periodontal disease, have been linked to low birth weight and premature birth. Additionally, mothers' oral health status has been related to childhood caries, through the direct transmission of oral pathogens. Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a promising intervention in the oral health care arena. MI has been empirically supported as a treatment for substance abuse, as well as other health issues including, diabetes, HIV, …

Cognitions Of The Community: The Worldview Of U.S. Intelligence, David Alex Mastro Ii

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation attempts to determine what the worldview of U.S. intelligence looks like so that it can be incorporated into America's intelligence identity. I argue that this is necessary to gain a better understanding of why the agencies that comprise the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) share several behaviors despite having different interests and preferences. To answer my research question, which asks what the worldview of U.S. intelligence is, I conceptualize the IC's core belief system about world politics (its worldview) as the five philosophical beliefs in an operational code. I hypothesize about how the IC views each of these cognitions …

Thresholds And Tolerance Of Physical Pain Among Young Adults Who Engage In Self-Injury, Katrina Mccoy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Prevalence rates of non-suicidal self-injury among college students ranges from 17% to 38%. Research indicates that individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) who self-injure sometimes report an absence of pain during self-injury. Furthermore, self-injury in the absence of pain has been associated with more frequent suicide attempts. The present study examined pain thresholds and tolerance among 44 college students (11 self-injurious and 33 non-self-injurious). Pain thresholds and tolerance were measured using an algometer pressure device which has been used to produce pain previous laboratory research. Self-injurious participants had higher pain tolerances than those who do not engage in self-injury. In …

Neuropsychological Functioning Of College Students With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Melanie Ann Nuszkowski

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often experience significant impairment in multiple life domains not only during childhood, but also throughout their adult lives. While there is no single litmus test for identifying ADHD, neuropsychological tests have been proposed as one means of enhancing identification of ADHD in adults. Theories of ADHD have suggested that deficits in executive functioning underlie the symptom appearance for ADHD; however, meta-analyses have suggested that non-executive functioning skills provide nearly equal discriminatory results. Given the increasing proportion of students with ADHD who are pursuing postsecondary education, the need for further research addressing the impact …

Mitigating The Effect Of Covariates In Face Recognition, Richa Singh

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Current face recognition systems capture faces of cooperative individuals in controlled environment as part of the face recognition process. It is therefore possible to control lighting, pose, background, and quality of images. However, in a real world application, we have to deal with both ideal and imperfect data. Performance of current face recognition systems is affected for such non-ideal and challenging cases. This research focuses on designing algorithms to mitigate the effect of covariates in face recognition.;To address the challenge of facial aging, an age transformation algorithm is proposed that registers two face images and minimizes the aging variations. Unlike …

Slow-To-Warm-Up Temperament In Infancy As A Predictor Of Concurrent And Later Child And Maternal Behaviors, Jessica B. Stoltzfus

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Little is known about the slow-to-warm-up infant temperament. The present study evaluated the usefulness of this temperament as conceptualized by Thomas and Chess in predicting child and maternal parenting behaviors, with a particular focus on its conceptual link to child inhibition. Participants were 1,072 mothers and their children in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. Slow-to-warm-up temperament in infancy did predict later inhibition, p = .000, but not as well as the difficult temperament or the individual temperament subscales of mood and approach. Including maternal sensitivity and stimulation and support increased the prediction of inhibition from the slow-to-warm-up temperament …

Why Plea-Bargaining Fails To Achieve Results In So Many Criminal Justice Systems: A New Framework For Assessment, Nuno Garoupa, Frank H. Stephen

Faculty Scholarship

The myth of American exceptionalism in the matter of plea-bargaining is certainly by now quite untrue. In addition to forming an important part of criminal procedure in the United Kingdom, plea-bargaining has been transplanted to several civil law countries such as France and Italy. Informal versions, based on non-trial settlement, have been observed in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and around the world. The Law and Economics literature on plea-bargaining views it as an efficient instrument of criminal procedure because it reduces enforcement costs (for both parties) and allows the prosecutor to concentrate on more meritorious cases. Yet the success of …

The Market For Legal Innovation: Law And Economics In Europe And The United States, Nuno Garoupa, Thomas S. Ulen

Faculty Scholarship

There have been a large number of innovations in legal scholarship in the U.S. legal academy over the past twenty-five or so years and very few from legal scholars in other parts of the world. For instance, because both of us work in the area of law and economics, we are both acutely aware of the large differences in the receptivity to law and economics as between the United States and Europe. The U.S. legal academy has generously embraced law and economics (and some other legal innovations), while Europe (and the rest of the world) has not. Why has the …

Design With Benefits : Combining Healthcare Step Programs And Design Tools To Make A Difference In Community Health, Emily E. Frye

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

I am aware that there is increasing emphasis being placed on designers pro actively designing services as opposed to simply creating artifacts. Looking past “selling” and moving toward enabling solutions that are for the greater good, this paper makes use of ethnographic contexts of communities involved to guide design. My thesis project designs a service plan and a program with artifacts. It is aimed at helping rural West Virginia Clinics intervene with unhealthy patients to help them prepare for a pro-active lifestyle. This program, named BeneFIT, was designed with user-centered methods and incorporates the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) developed by James …

Insights From The Field: Perceptions Of In-Home Interventionists Working In Appalachian Maryland., Benjamin T. Brauer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As No Child Left Behind continues to impact public K-12 education, educators continue to seek new ways in which to reach out to at-risk students. Many school administrators and school interventionists are using in-home interventions to assist families in facilitating their child’s success. These interventions range from simply bringing instructional materials to the home of a frequently absent student, to facilitating the delivery of mental health services in the home. While school officials are taking on additional roles and responsibilities to try and meet the growing expectations placed on the public K-12 educational system, many feel that they are doing …